GTBANK LISTS NIGERIA’S FIRST CORPORATE BOND IN YEARS

by Chijioke Ohuocha Nigeria's Guaranty Trust Bank GTB.LG has listed the country's first corporate bond in four years, paving the way for deeper liquidity in the fledgling commercial debt market, its financial advisers said on Thursday.

GT Bank GTB.LG listed its five-year naira-denominated fixed rate bond on the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Wednesday, according to the firm's asset management subsidiary GT Asset Management, which is the lead issuing house for the bond.

It is the first corporate debt listing in sub-Saharan Africa's second biggest economy since Access Bank (ACCESS.LG:Quote) issued a 13.5 billion Nigerian naira ($90 million) redeemable convertible bond in 2006.

Bookbuilding for GT Bank's 13.2 billion naira senior unsecured bond, which has a 13.5 percent coupon, closed last December and is the first tranche of a 200 billion naira debt issuance programme announced by the bank.

GT Bank is one of four Nigerian lenders that announced planned debt issues last year.

Nigeria's corporate and government debt markets are expected to deepen in the coming years as local pension funds and asset managers become more comfortable with fixed income and less reliant on equities in their portfolios, analysts say